This work is an autobiographical account. It is quite simply, a book that begins with my inevitable fall. From an addiction to tobacco, alcohol, amphetamines, pornography and food, I had a complete mental collapse at age thirty-seven. I had to rebuild from nothing. I had pushed away my family, been through four divorces and had little (outside of an impressive collection of Conan the Barbarian merchandise) to show for my time on Earth. I had literally reached my end. In my path to rebuild, redefine and rekindle a semblance of self-worth, I directed my addictive personally and OCD into running. Counselling had failed, and faith alone had come up wanting. I needed to find strength within. With running, I had truly found a workable rehabilitation.
I managed, along my path to ultra-running, to make virtually every fundamental mistake. I was alone in these decisions –I really had no idea how to run. Running seems to be an inherent skill-set, like walking upright. It took me years to correct, research and replicate my style into a viable form. This book is not a history of running, nor is it a manual of running styles. It is a book about one guy who managed to rebuild a shattered life through miles of trials. It details those novice mistakes, poor judgment calls and tragic errors that most runners encounter along their own winding paths.

Chris ‘Irish Goat’ Knodel is a coach, trainer and ultra-runner in San Antonio, TX. He can be found leading the 9-10 minute/mile marathon pace group at R&R Fitness, or instructing high-intensity classes at Run Wild Sports downtown. He still has strong ties with his North Carolina ultra-marathon roots, like the Brick City Running Tribe (Sanford), Mangum Track Club (Ellerbe) and Tir na nOg Run Club (Raleigh). Chris still contributes a weekly fitness column to the Sanford Herald newspaper, and has already begun the initial research on a book compilation of San Antonio area runners. Chris is often joined on the trails by his wife (newly moved to the ‘dark side’ of ultra-running). He can be easily spotted by his kilt, tattoos and six inch, flaming red, Van Dyke goatee.